This invention relates to reinkers for use with printers employing an inked ribbon and more particularly to an arrangement for locking an ink bottle to an inked ribbon cartridge while engaging the wick carried by the ink bottle with the ribbon to be inked.
With the advent of high speed printers, particularly those involving impact printing through an inked ribbon, problems have arisen with respect to the frequency of ribbon replacement due to the increased use. In order to reduce the frequency of ribbon replacement, various techniques have been employed. In many applications such as those involving chain or belt printers use has been made of a cartridge containing an endless loop of ribbon. Obviously increasing the volume of ribbon contained in the cartridge reduces the frequency of ribbon replacement. The useful life of a ribbon may also be increased by the use of a ribbon turnover feature as by a mobius loop in an endless ribbon tape. For details of such arrangements, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,132, dated Nov. 2, 1976, entitled "Ribbon Storage and Transport Mechanism" and assigned to the common assignee. Even after these solutions have been adopted, the need still exists for reducing the frequency of ribbon replacement. In this connection the life of a ribbon has been extended for printing through the use of a reinking device. One such device is an ink container or bottle that transfers ink to the ribbon in a desirable manner. In the past, ink bottles were attached to the printer mechanism itself as contrasted with the ink cartridge or in some instances the ink bottle was hung on the cartridge. When the printer was to be serviced or the cartridge had to be replaced, the ink bottle had to be removed in a separate step before this could be accomplished. It is desirable particularly where space is cramped and ease of cartridge replacement is desirable to provide an arrangement whereby the cartridge and bottle can be removed as an integral unit and if the bottle is to be replaced, it can be quickly and simply detached and another bottle locked in a position with the cartridge.